DRDO conducts key test of scramjet engine

NEW new delhi: The Defence explore and evolution Organisation (DRDO) on fri conducted a successful strand test of a full-scale actively cooled scramjet engine --- an air breathing engine capable of sustaining combustion during supersonic flights -- with defence minister Rajnath Singh describing the achievement as a “solid foundation” for India’s hypersonic cruise missile programme.The Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), a Hyderabad based DRDO laboratory, has achieved “a path-breaking milestone” in the development of hypersonic missiles, the defence ministry said. “DRDL successfully conducted an extensive long-duration ground test of its actively cooled scramjet full scale combustor, achieving a run time of over 12 minutes…,” it said in a statement.The development is being seen as a crucial milestone in developing next-generation hypersonic missiles that can travel at speeds of more than Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound.Only the United States, Russia and China have developed technologies to field fast-manoeuvring hypersonic missiles that fly at lower altitudes and are extremely hard to track and intercept. These advanced weapons have the potential to bypass existing air defence systems and deliver rapid and high-impact strikes.This significant achievement builds upon the earlier subscale test conducted on April 25, 2025, for long duration, marking a crucial step forward in hypersonic missile development, the defence ministry said. “The combustor and test facility were designed and developed by the DRDL and realised by industry partners. The successful test positions India at the forefront of advanced aerospace capabilities.”An improvement over ramjet technology, the scramjet engine operates efficiently at hypersonic speeds and allows supersonic combustion.The latest test builds also on a successful ground test of a scramjet engine conducted in January 2025 when DRDL demonstrated a cutting-edge active cooled scramjet combustor ground test for 120 seconds for the first time in India. The key to hypersonic vehicles is the scramjet engine capable of sustaining combustion at supersonic speeds without using any moving parts, the defence ministry said at the time.On Friday, Singh hailed DRDO and others associated with the latest test of the scramjet engine, He “complimented DRDO, industry partners and academia on the successful ground test of Full Scale Actively Cooled Long Duration Scramjet Engine and stated that the achievement is a solid foundation for the nation’s Hypersonic Cruise Missile Development Program,” the defence minister’s office wrote on X.In November 2024, India announced that DRDO had successfully test-fired the country’s first long-range hypersonic missile off the Odisha coast, a step towards strengthening the military’s capabilities with a new weapon system.The hypersonic missile tested was designed to carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 km for the armed forces. It was tracked by various range systems, deployed in multiple domains, and the flight data obtained from down range ship stations confirmed the successful terminal manoeuvres and impact with a high degree of accuracy.